Bethlehem robber, turned in by parents, gets state prison

Andrew Bilheimer (right), a veteran of the Iraq war, is going to state prison… (KEVIN MINGORA, MORNING…)

February 20, 2013|By Riley Yates, Of The Morning Call

A gas station robber who was turned in to Bethlehem police by his parents will serve 31/3 to 62/3 years in state prison, a Northampton County judge decided Wednesday.

Andrew Bilheimer, 24, is an Army veteran of the Iraq War who became addicted to drugs and saw his life spiral out of control, his mother, Laura Bilheimer, told President Judge F.P. Kimberly McFadden.

At the time of the robbery, her son was living from his car after being kicked out of the house for stealing, Laura Bilheimer said.

"I never even thought in a million years that he'd get on heroin, and it changed his life," she said.

On Aug. 5, Andrew Bilheimer used a semiautomatic handgun to hold up Express Gas & Food Mart on Linden Street, where police said he got away with $1,000.

After the robbery, investigators released surveillance photos that were posted on police, news and social media websites. Police said Bilheimer's parents identified him in the hopes that "he gets the treatment he needs."

"This was a particularly nasty event that you were involved in," McFadden told the defendant. "This sort of behavior cannot be repeated, or you're going to be warehoused."

Once Bilheimer completes his prison time, he'll be on probation for eight years under McFadden's sentence.